Project description
In recent years software offshore-outsourcing (offshoring) was established as a common business strategy for small- and medium sized enterprises (SME) in Germany that work in the field of software development. However, research on the offshoring of software development has focused in particular on the standardization and formalization of business- and software development processes in major enterprises. In contrast, SME highly depend on strong customer connectivity, taking advantage of their smaller structures by providing more flexible coordination mechanisms as well as on a more informal division of labor, all of which results in flat hierarchies that can quickly adapt to any condition. This agility of SME is a crucial competitive advantage with regard to being able to compete with major enterprises.
To get an idea of the specific requirements of SME, explorative case studies have been conducted in a number of SME, employing empirical and ethnographical methods. Drawing on Anselm Strauss’ analytical framework, the project’s research on offshoring practice focused mainly on the role of articulation work. Articulation work describes diverse forms of informal ad-hoc coordination on an employee level which are pivotal for conducting offshoring projects in German SME. Focus areas of the project were the relation of informal articulation work to formal coordination structures as well as the role of media and artifacts.
The ARTOS project was conceived as business ethnography and focused on participant observation of labor practices of software developers in practical offshoring conditions. In combination with interviews and artifact analysis, the study drew a detailed picture of the topical offshoring practice of German SME. During the evaluation process, research findings were relayed back to the practitioners in order to trigger mutual learning processes and guide technology development.
